diff --git a/libraries/libapparmor/src/features.c b/libraries/libapparmor/src/features.c
index 3f875beec..2b16dcf58 100644
--- a/libraries/libapparmor/src/features.c
+++ b/libraries/libapparmor/src/features.c
@@ -194,6 +194,8 @@ static int features_dir_cb(int dirfd, const char *name, struct stat *st,
 	if (features_snprintf(fst, "%s {", name) == -1)
 		return -1;
 
+	/* Handle symlink here. See _aa_dirat_for_each in private.c */
+
 	if (S_ISREG(st->st_mode)) {
 		ssize_t len;
 		size_t remaining;
diff --git a/libraries/libapparmor/src/policy_cache.c b/libraries/libapparmor/src/policy_cache.c
index 1f3478746..7e840dc66 100644
--- a/libraries/libapparmor/src/policy_cache.c
+++ b/libraries/libapparmor/src/policy_cache.c
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ struct aa_policy_cache {
 static int clear_cache_cb(int dirfd, const char *path, struct stat *st,
 			  void *data unused)
 {
+	/* Handle symlink here. See _aa_dirat_for_each in private.c */
+
 	if (S_ISREG(st->st_mode)) {
 		/* remove regular files */
 		return unlinkat(dirfd, path, 0);
diff --git a/libraries/libapparmor/src/private.c b/libraries/libapparmor/src/private.c
index 3d23b1648..26b34c8d1 100644
--- a/libraries/libapparmor/src/private.c
+++ b/libraries/libapparmor/src/private.c
@@ -452,7 +452,8 @@ int _aa_overlaydirat_for_each(int dirfd[], int n, void *data,
  *
  * The cb function is called with the DIR in use and the name of the
  * file in that directory.  If the file is to be opened it should
- * use the openat, fstatat, and related fns.
+ * use the openat, fstatat, and related fns. If the file is a symlink
+ * _aa_dirat_for_each currently tries to traverse it for the caller
  *
  * Returns: 0 on success, else -1 and errno is set to the error code
  */
@@ -485,14 +486,34 @@ int _aa_dirat_for_each(int dirfd, const char *name, void *data,
 		autofree struct dirent *dir = namelist[i];
 		struct stat my_stat;
 
-		if (rc)
-			continue;
-
-		if (fstatat(cb_dirfd, dir->d_name, &my_stat, 0)) {
+		if (fstatat(cb_dirfd, dir->d_name, &my_stat, AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW)) {
 			PDEBUG("stat failed for '%s': %m\n", dir->d_name);
 			rc = -1;
 			continue;
 		}
+		/* currently none of the callers handle symlinks, and this
+		 * same basic code was applied to each. So for this patch
+		 * just drop it here.
+		 *
+		 * Going forward we need to start handling symlinks as
+		 * they have meaning.
+		 * In the case of
+		 * cache: they act as a place holder for files that have been
+		 *        combined into a single binary. This enables the
+		 *        file based cache lookup time find that relation
+		 *        and dedup, so multiple loads aren't done.
+		 * profiles: just a profile in an alternate location, but
+		 *           should do dedup detection when doing dir reads
+		 *           so we don't double process.
+		 */
+		if (S_ISLNK(my_stat.st_mode)) {
+			/* just traverse the symlink */
+			if (fstatat(cb_dirfd, dir->d_name, &my_stat, 0)) {
+				PDEBUG("symlink target stat failed for '%s': %m\n", dir->d_name);
+				rc = -1;
+				continue;
+			}
+		}
 
 		if (cb(cb_dirfd, dir->d_name, &my_stat, data)) {
 			PDEBUG("dir_for_each callback failed for '%s'\n",
diff --git a/parser/parser_lex.l b/parser/parser_lex.l
index 8aded956a..7d99cc0f2 100644
--- a/parser/parser_lex.l
+++ b/parser/parser_lex.l
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ static int include_dir_cb(int dirfd unused, const char *name, struct stat *st,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	/* Handle symlink here. See _aa_dirat_for_each in private.c */
+
 	if (S_ISREG(st->st_mode)) {
 		if (!(yyin = fopen(path,"r")))
 			yyerror(_("Could not open '%s' in '%s'"), path, d->filename);
diff --git a/parser/parser_main.c b/parser/parser_main.c
index 126df2485..5a6baf1cb 100644
--- a/parser/parser_main.c
+++ b/parser/parser_main.c
@@ -1450,6 +1450,8 @@ static int profile_dir_cb(int dirfd unused, const char *name, struct stat *st,
 {
 	int rc = 0;
 
+	/* Handle symlink here. See _aa_dirat_for_each in private.c */
+
 	if (!S_ISDIR(st->st_mode) && !is_blacklisted(name, NULL)) {
 		struct dir_cb_data *cb_data = (struct dir_cb_data *)data;
 		autofree char *path = NULL;
@@ -1472,6 +1474,8 @@ static int binary_dir_cb(int dirfd unused, const char *name, struct stat *st,
 {
 	int rc = 0;
 
+	/* Handle symlink here. See _aa_dirat_for_each in private.c */
+
 	if (!S_ISDIR(st->st_mode) && !is_blacklisted(name, NULL)) {
 		struct dir_cb_data *cb_data = (struct dir_cb_data *)data;
 		autofree char *path = NULL;
@@ -1664,7 +1668,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			if ((retval = dirat_for_each(AT_FDCWD, profilename,
 						     &cb_data, cb))) {
 				last_error = errno;
-				PDEBUG("Failed loading profiles from %s\n",
+				PERROR("There was an error while loading profiles from %s\n",
 				       profilename);
 				if (abort_on_error)
 					break;
diff --git a/parser/tst/Makefile b/parser/tst/Makefile
index a05838c0c..08d42f459 100644
--- a/parser/tst/Makefile
+++ b/parser/tst/Makefile
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ endif
 
 all: tests
 
-.PHONY: tests error_output gen_dbus gen_xtrans parser_sanity caching minimize equality valgrind
-tests: error_output caching minimize equality parser_sanity
+.PHONY: tests error_output gen_dbus gen_xtrans parser_sanity caching minimize equality dirtest valgrind
+tests: error_output caching minimize equality dirtest parser_sanity
 
 GEN_TRANS_DIRS=simple_tests/generated_x/ simple_tests/generated_perms_leading/ simple_tests/generated_perms_safe/ simple_tests/generated_dbus
 
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ minimize: $(PARSER)
 equality: $(PARSER)
 	LANG=C APPARMOR_PARSER="$(PARSER) $(PARSER_ARGS)" ./equality.sh
 
+dirtest: $(PARSER)
+	LANG=C APPARMOR_PARSER="$(PARSER) $(PARSER_ARGS)" ./dirtest.sh
+
 valgrind: $(PARSER) gen_xtrans gen_dbus
 	LANG=C ./valgrind_simple.py -p "$(PARSER) $(PARSER_ARGS)" -v simple_tests